To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

The QC, Vol. 85, No. 04 • October 1, 1998

1998_10_01_p001

uaker
October 1,199S1
ampus
■ Laureate
of America
Our day with
renowned poet
Robert Pinsky.
■ Breaking
Wins
Every single one of
Whittier's teams
was victorious this
week. Every single
one. No kidding.
■■■■■■ ■. ....
II;,« Jg |
The Voice Of The Campus Since 1914
Race Matters?
Is Whittier College really as
diverse and tolerant as it
claims to be?
■ AIDS Walk
This Way
Whittier students joined thousands
at L.A.'s AIDS Walk, one of the
most famous—and perhaps most
flamboyant— fundraising events
for AIDS research.
Johnson Expects Full Recovery; Attends Football Games
■ STUDENT
by Liz Valsamis
QC News Editor
Having relocated to Hawthorne under the care of his godmother, senior Marvin Johnson is
on the way to recovery after the
car accident that took the lives of
his mother, brother, his son's
mother and left Johnson in a coma.
Johnson and his brother's girlfriend were the only survivors.
The accident occurred in November of '97 as the family was
making its way home on Highway
15 from vacationing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Johnson's brother
fell asleep at the wheel, causing
the vehicle to go off the road,
hitting the median and flipping
over several times [see QC Issue
15, Vol. 84].
"During the time in Las Vegas
we made frequent trips to Vegas
to just basically be there for him,"
Head Football Coach Bob Owens
iPlliTOTOl
'«i
:
^-'■:'-:**tf ■ :■->' %
■TOtoTOto^**to"
* ■*
TO ■■:
+ •
:; -TO-
a
Marvin Johnson.
said. "At that point it was life and
death."
Johnson sustained a severe
head injury, a punctured lung and
a compound fracture to the leg.
Once out of danger,
Johnson was moved to Ran-
cho Los Angeles, a rehabilitation
facility in Downey.
Johnson had to learn to walk
again after his left leg was reconstructed.
"He's now trying to walk
without braces," Assistant Football Coach Eugene Miranda said.
"His condition is that he is
okay health wise, but he is not
able to communicate verbally. He
uses an alphabet chart to communicate. When he is out in public,
he won't really use it, but one on
one he'll use it."
Being confined to a wheelchair and his inability to speak has
not stopped Johnson from communicating his support to the football team from the stadium stands.
Johnson has made appearances at the recent football games.
"The main thing is that Marvin definitely motivates us," junior
Karimu Williams said. "He basically just tells me to do Well. He
makes jokes encouraging us and
he has also encouraged the rest of
the teammates."
Miranda said, "Marvin is still
Marvin. Nothing has changed with
his behavior. To the team, Marvin
is still part of the team. They all
pulled for him."
Johnson was wheeled onto the football field during Saturday's
game. He played linebacker last year before his accident.
vin. They were surprised on how
Now on the way to rehabilitation, Johnson has expressed his
desire to return to Whittier once
fully healed, according to Miranda. "[Doctors] expect full rehabilitation but it depends on Mar
fast his progress was coming
along."
Additional reporting by Anna
Neese, QC Managing Editor.
Survey Says Students Satisfied, Studious, Sexually Active
■ SURVEY FINDINGS
Academics
• Whittier students get 22%moreBsbut
7% less As than the national average.
• 98% are satisfied with faculty support.
• 83% are satisfied with financial aid
packages.
• 67% think professors' expectations
are high or very high.
• 72% of students begin studying for
exams only one to two days before.
• 3 5% of students spend one to two hours
preparing for class; 45% spend three to
four.
• 64%ofstudentsclaimtheydon'tcheat
on exams, but interviews contradict
that percentage.
Social Habits
• Only 10% of frequent drinkers had
GPAs over 3.7. Students with high
GPAs did not drink excessively.
• 64% of sexually active students of
both genders report having sex with
out being in love.
• 7% of men and 6% of women said
they were bisexual; 1% of men and
2% of women said they were homosexual.
• 42.5% of students say their political
views are liberal; 38.1% say "middle
ofthe road"; 19.3% say conservative.
■ STUDENTS
by Chris Ziegler
QC Editor-in-Chief
There is no love at Whittier College
anymore—but at least the financial aid
packages are great.
A recent survey by Asst. Professor of
Sociology Zhidong Hao and his spring
1998 Research Methods class examined
the student culture at Whittier, including
their attitudes toward the College as an
institution, their academics, their involvement in extracurricular activities like sports
and societies and their political and personal values.
Approximately 90% of students felt
satisfied with the educational and financial
support they received from the faculty and
staff and spent several hours a day studying
for classes.
The survey also noted, however, that
some students spent their time cheating on
exams, having sex without being in love
and drinking to adverse academic effect
[see findings, left].
"[The analysis] is still preliminary,"
Hao said, "but the trends in the behavior we
were trying to measure still hold true."
Hao's students surveyed randomly selected students last spring as part of a class
project. Originally, 330 students were contacted by mail, but only 209 returned their
surveys. Groups of students collected and
analyzed the research and presented their
findings at the end of last semester.
"We should have had a larger sample,"
Hao said, "but we tried to balance the
survey with field research, interviews and
historical analysis."
Director of Residential Life Dave Leonard felt that the data was basically.accu-
rate.
"I felt the survey reflected the students
and issues at Whittier," he said. "It was a
pretty good effort."
Most significant, Hao felt, was the data
on grade distribution—Whittier students
receive more Bs and less As than the national average, leading the student researchers to speculate that professors were giving
C students the "benefit of the doubt" and
subtly inflating GPAs.
"The College and faculty should constantly evaluate why we give what grades
we give to students," he said. "It's an issue
of concern, but it may not be a problem."
Nearly 70% of students surveyed believed that their professor's expectations
were high or very high, however, and only
3% felt they were very low.
"That's something to be proud of," Hao
said.
Though almost 64% of students denied
that they cheated,. interviews with other
students contradicted the results, prompting the researchers to suggest that students
may be confused as to what exactly constitutes cheating—or that some were simply
lying.
Four-fifths of Whittier students study
between one and four hours a day, nearly
50% more students than a similar U.C.L.A.
survey reported, and still some wished they
had more time to devote to study.
When it comes to preparing for tests,
however, 72% of students wait until one to
two days before to start cramming.
"[That's] the collegiate way," Leonard
said. "Expectations are pretty lofty these
days, so students have to work harder."
Students preferring to drink instead of
study have predictably lower GPAs, the
survey showed—only 10% of those who
admitted to frequent drinking had GPAs
over 3.7.
Some men were much more likely to be
more sexually promiscuous than women—
though most sexually active students had
between two and four partners, men were
more apt to have up to 20 different partners.
64% of sexually active students of both
genders also said they'd had sex without
feeling any particular emotional attachment to their partners. About 90% of stu-
See SURVEY, page 5

uaker
October 1,199S1
ampus
■ Laureate
of America
Our day with
renowned poet
Robert Pinsky.
■ Breaking
Wins
Every single one of
Whittier's teams
was victorious this
week. Every single
one. No kidding.
■■■■■■ ■. ....
II;,« Jg |
The Voice Of The Campus Since 1914
Race Matters?
Is Whittier College really as
diverse and tolerant as it
claims to be?
■ AIDS Walk
This Way
Whittier students joined thousands
at L.A.'s AIDS Walk, one of the
most famous—and perhaps most
flamboyant— fundraising events
for AIDS research.
Johnson Expects Full Recovery; Attends Football Games
■ STUDENT
by Liz Valsamis
QC News Editor
Having relocated to Hawthorne under the care of his godmother, senior Marvin Johnson is
on the way to recovery after the
car accident that took the lives of
his mother, brother, his son's
mother and left Johnson in a coma.
Johnson and his brother's girlfriend were the only survivors.
The accident occurred in November of '97 as the family was
making its way home on Highway
15 from vacationing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Johnson's brother
fell asleep at the wheel, causing
the vehicle to go off the road,
hitting the median and flipping
over several times [see QC Issue
15, Vol. 84].
"During the time in Las Vegas
we made frequent trips to Vegas
to just basically be there for him,"
Head Football Coach Bob Owens
iPlliTOTOl
'«i
:
^-'■:'-:**tf ■ :■->' %
■TOtoTOto^**to"
* ■*
TO ■■:
+ •
:; -TO-
a
Marvin Johnson.
said. "At that point it was life and
death."
Johnson sustained a severe
head injury, a punctured lung and
a compound fracture to the leg.
Once out of danger,
Johnson was moved to Ran-
cho Los Angeles, a rehabilitation
facility in Downey.
Johnson had to learn to walk
again after his left leg was reconstructed.
"He's now trying to walk
without braces," Assistant Football Coach Eugene Miranda said.
"His condition is that he is
okay health wise, but he is not
able to communicate verbally. He
uses an alphabet chart to communicate. When he is out in public,
he won't really use it, but one on
one he'll use it."
Being confined to a wheelchair and his inability to speak has
not stopped Johnson from communicating his support to the football team from the stadium stands.
Johnson has made appearances at the recent football games.
"The main thing is that Marvin definitely motivates us," junior
Karimu Williams said. "He basically just tells me to do Well. He
makes jokes encouraging us and
he has also encouraged the rest of
the teammates."
Miranda said, "Marvin is still
Marvin. Nothing has changed with
his behavior. To the team, Marvin
is still part of the team. They all
pulled for him."
Johnson was wheeled onto the football field during Saturday's
game. He played linebacker last year before his accident.
vin. They were surprised on how
Now on the way to rehabilitation, Johnson has expressed his
desire to return to Whittier once
fully healed, according to Miranda. "[Doctors] expect full rehabilitation but it depends on Mar
fast his progress was coming
along."
Additional reporting by Anna
Neese, QC Managing Editor.
Survey Says Students Satisfied, Studious, Sexually Active
■ SURVEY FINDINGS
Academics
• Whittier students get 22%moreBsbut
7% less As than the national average.
• 98% are satisfied with faculty support.
• 83% are satisfied with financial aid
packages.
• 67% think professors' expectations
are high or very high.
• 72% of students begin studying for
exams only one to two days before.
• 3 5% of students spend one to two hours
preparing for class; 45% spend three to
four.
• 64%ofstudentsclaimtheydon'tcheat
on exams, but interviews contradict
that percentage.
Social Habits
• Only 10% of frequent drinkers had
GPAs over 3.7. Students with high
GPAs did not drink excessively.
• 64% of sexually active students of
both genders report having sex with
out being in love.
• 7% of men and 6% of women said
they were bisexual; 1% of men and
2% of women said they were homosexual.
• 42.5% of students say their political
views are liberal; 38.1% say "middle
ofthe road"; 19.3% say conservative.
■ STUDENTS
by Chris Ziegler
QC Editor-in-Chief
There is no love at Whittier College
anymore—but at least the financial aid
packages are great.
A recent survey by Asst. Professor of
Sociology Zhidong Hao and his spring
1998 Research Methods class examined
the student culture at Whittier, including
their attitudes toward the College as an
institution, their academics, their involvement in extracurricular activities like sports
and societies and their political and personal values.
Approximately 90% of students felt
satisfied with the educational and financial
support they received from the faculty and
staff and spent several hours a day studying
for classes.
The survey also noted, however, that
some students spent their time cheating on
exams, having sex without being in love
and drinking to adverse academic effect
[see findings, left].
"[The analysis] is still preliminary,"
Hao said, "but the trends in the behavior we
were trying to measure still hold true."
Hao's students surveyed randomly selected students last spring as part of a class
project. Originally, 330 students were contacted by mail, but only 209 returned their
surveys. Groups of students collected and
analyzed the research and presented their
findings at the end of last semester.
"We should have had a larger sample,"
Hao said, "but we tried to balance the
survey with field research, interviews and
historical analysis."
Director of Residential Life Dave Leonard felt that the data was basically.accu-
rate.
"I felt the survey reflected the students
and issues at Whittier," he said. "It was a
pretty good effort."
Most significant, Hao felt, was the data
on grade distribution—Whittier students
receive more Bs and less As than the national average, leading the student researchers to speculate that professors were giving
C students the "benefit of the doubt" and
subtly inflating GPAs.
"The College and faculty should constantly evaluate why we give what grades
we give to students," he said. "It's an issue
of concern, but it may not be a problem."
Nearly 70% of students surveyed believed that their professor's expectations
were high or very high, however, and only
3% felt they were very low.
"That's something to be proud of," Hao
said.
Though almost 64% of students denied
that they cheated,. interviews with other
students contradicted the results, prompting the researchers to suggest that students
may be confused as to what exactly constitutes cheating—or that some were simply
lying.
Four-fifths of Whittier students study
between one and four hours a day, nearly
50% more students than a similar U.C.L.A.
survey reported, and still some wished they
had more time to devote to study.
When it comes to preparing for tests,
however, 72% of students wait until one to
two days before to start cramming.
"[That's] the collegiate way," Leonard
said. "Expectations are pretty lofty these
days, so students have to work harder."
Students preferring to drink instead of
study have predictably lower GPAs, the
survey showed—only 10% of those who
admitted to frequent drinking had GPAs
over 3.7.
Some men were much more likely to be
more sexually promiscuous than women—
though most sexually active students had
between two and four partners, men were
more apt to have up to 20 different partners.
64% of sexually active students of both
genders also said they'd had sex without
feeling any particular emotional attachment to their partners. About 90% of stu-
See SURVEY, page 5